Where the Fault Lies
by dashinginconverse
Summary: After all is said and done, Seth discovers her sitting rather nonchalantly on his bed, as if nothing happened just hours ago, and doesn't know whether to fall into her or shut her out completely. RollinsPaige, set after 6/2/14 RAW, oneshot


_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own anything._

_**Summary: After all is said and done, Seth discovers her sitting rather nonchalantly on his bed, as if nothing happened just hours ago, and doesn't know whether to fall into her or shut her out completely. RollinsPaige, set after 6/2/14 RAW, oneshot**_

_Okay, this is the last of the trio of "fallout" fics I've had planned. This one can pretty much stand on its own, although there is a brief callback to my RomanRenee. This fic takes place in the same general timeline as the other two Shield/Diva fics I've recently posted in response to Rollinsgate. It's also a new pairing that I have, surprisingly, become quite fond of. I'm not used to writing Seth with anyone other than Kaitlyn and frankly it's quite odd, but I wanted to attempt to write these two. (If you would like to read an utterly amazing Sethlyn set post-Monday's RAW, I'd definitely suggest __**mulhollanddrive**__'s magnificent fic, "Your Protection".) Anyway! Enough of my rambling. Please enjoy!_

* * *

**Where the Fault Lies**

* * *

The shower hissed and sputtered but eventually sprang to life, a small success of the evening for which Seth Rollins was immensely grateful. Running a hand over his hair, he heaved a great sigh before stepping into the spray. Hot droplets of water pounded against him, greeting him with a relief that he didn't know was still possible.

He supposed it was the simplicity of just being able to take a shower that calmed him. It sounded ridiculous, really, but that didn't make it any less true. Seth guessed it had to do with the amount of drama and fighting and constantly struggling to prove himself. It had become all so commonplace that something as simple and routine as a shower was overwhelmingly special to him.

The two-toned man snickered a bit at that for some reason unbeknownst to him.

Going through the motions, he tried to think back to the events that occurred at the end of RAW. It felt as productive as trying to wade through quicksand. It was a clichéd thought, but it felt as if everything were going in slow motion and yet as fast as the strike of a viper all at the same time.

Flashes of the night's events assaulted him - the way the cool steel of the chair felt as he gripped it in his hands, the sickening _thud_ it made over and over and over again as he crashed it onto Roman's back, Dean's shocked face before Seth turned on him, Triple H's smug smirk as he wrapped an arm around his shoulders...

He smacked the palm of his hand violently against the linoleum of the shower. Once, twice, thrice... Over and over, closing his eyes in response to the pain as it shot up his arm. With his free hand, he grasped the shower knob and turned the hot water as high as it would go, growling as it stung and burned his skin.

Seth pressed his forehead against the cheap looking tile that adorned the walls of the shower and willed himself to clear his mind. But, no matter how much he willed it, he could still feel and see and hear _everything_.

His fingers resembled prunes and the hot water turned frigid by the time he extricated himself from the shower. Seth grabbed the towel he had hung on the nearby rack and dried himself off, catching random glimpses of himself in the mirror that hung above the sink in front of him.

Seth tried not to look at himself too long.

Clumsily, he began to dress himself, noticing vaguely that his hands were shaking, but trying desperately to keep his thoughts blank. It was to no avail, of course, but Seth couldn't be blamed for trying.

Grabbing a smaller towel, Seth walked out of the bathroom while attempting to rid the extra water from his hair. His eyes were covered with the white cotton as he continued to scrub - probably more viciously than he should have - and therefore, he was surprised when the towel was removed from his vision and he found dark-haired Divas' Champion Paige staring at him with even darker eyes, impassive.

He should have expected to see her at some point, but he just figured she wouldn't want to be anywhere near him after what he did. Seth figured he was equally wrong in assuming this, considering she was right in front of him.

Paige was sitting on her heels, hands placed on either knee, the butterfly belt lying across her lap. A small, black duffel bag was at the foot of the bed, thrown there almost haphazardly. She watched him for a moment, not betraying any emotion whatsoever, before saying, "You certainly know how to make a scene."

Seth grabbed the towel from his head and tossed it back into the bathroom. He wasn't sure how to reply to that - not sure that he wanted to. All he knew was that there was a strange emptiness in his chest where there once wasn't.

"How did you find my room?" he ended up asking instead.

Paige's lips quirked into a slight smile. "Let's just say your new friend Randal is no longer a fan of mine."

That joking comment caused Seth to emit a chuckle, despite the fact that she brought up one piece of the very confusing puzzle whilst doing so. Really, he'd expect nothing less from her; that was one of his favorite aspects of her personality, if he were to be honest with himself.

Seth tried not to feel too comfortable with her around. Normally, he felt most comfortable when she was around, but now...now it was like being in the room with a snake, not knowing if said snake was venomous or not, but being careful regardless.

"Why are you here?"

Paige cocked a brow. "Do you want me to leave?"

"No," Seth replied, a bit too quickly, "no, I...I'm just surprised, I guess."

There was that smirk again. "Why?"

"I kind of expected you to not want anything to do with me." There really was no room for subtlety at this moment, not after what had transpired on this night.

"Here I thought you knew me better," she replied, slightly cheeky, slightly serious.

Seth gave her a slightly sheepish smile before replying, "I...guess I just think everyone hates me now."

"They might," Paige admitted. "And they might not."

There was that bluntness again. It made Seth want to scream and laugh at the same time.

Silence settled over the two of them. Paige picked at the neatly made sheets and Seth shifted from foot-to-foot before asking, "You don't have any questions for me?"

"I have loads," she admitted. "But they can wait."

Seth felt his brow furrow.

"I can honestly tell you don't want to talk about it. Your face fell as soon as you laid eyes on me, because you thought I was here to give you an interview that would make Renee jealous." At the mention of the petite blonde, Seth tensed, a spike of guilt piercing him. Was she with Roman right now? How was Roman doing? What about Dean -

"So I'm not going to force you to talk about it," Paige said, strangely calm. Then again, she had always been a cool customer and yet still had the ability to become a spitfire in the blink of an eye. "Not until you are ready."

At that moment, Seth glimpsed his reflection in the window adjacent to the bed. He could see why Paige was looking at him as if she had never seen him before. His eyes were streaked with red, his skin paler than it had been in years, his posture slumped and insecure. No matter how hard he tried to escape his reflection, he just couldn't.

And no matter how hard he tried to escape her stare, he just couldn't.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to.

Seth watched as Paige worried her lip with her teeth, looking uncharacteristically unsure, as if she was going to say something and then thinking the better of it several times in succession, as if the thoughts just wouldn't leave her.

"It had to be done," Seth said, and she looked up at him as he voiced the words. "I just...had to do it. I had to..._prove_..." And he tried to explain to her just what happened, his reasoning behind all of this, but the words tangled in his throat, strangling him on the way out. His eyes stung.

The mangled words hung in the air between them. They were simple and didn't really explain anything at all, but Seth felt like he owed her _something_, even if it was just a few measly words before he could actually formulate the reasoning behind his actions into words. He had to at least _try_ to get something out...

Before he attempted another explanation, Seth noticed that Paige's eyes were lit with such a deep concern that it shocked him. She swung her long legs over the side of the bed and walked over to him, her stride confident and purposeful even as she covered the seemingly insignificant space between the two of them. When she was in front of him, Paige reached up, grasping the sides of Seth's face with both of her hands before pulling him down to her, so her forehead touched his.

For a moment, she said nothing at all, just breathed in a calm manner - in and out and in and out - and Seth found himself mimicking the pattern, gradually returning to a calmer state.

"I am here," Paige said, the words quiet yet firm. "I am not going anywhere. Don't think that for a second."

And he _had _thought that, really. "I just...I was trying...you deserve..."

"Stubborn," she replied, a tint of fondness to her voice, but that was enough for him to stop talking. He was feeling that overwhelming sense of suffocating yet again, and she had stamped it down with just those simple words. "Don't force anything. I will still be here in the morning or the day after or the day after, when you figure out just what the hell is going on and decide to tell me." Her thumbs rubbed soothing circles at his temples. "Just don't wait _that_ long."

Seth chuckled a little bit, the sound coming off as rough in his throat. "Tomorrow," he promised.

"Tomorrow," she repeated.

At that singular word, all of the tiredness and confusion he had been feeling seemed to finally catch up to him. He bowed his head before burying his face in her hair and just trying to _breathe_. His arms wound around her, holding her tightly to his frame.

"Thank you," he exhaled.

In response, Paige tightened her arms around him, and in that moment it was just the two of them centered in the eye of the storm.

* * *

_**End.**_


End file.
